What are the things I value in music? Why do I mainly listen to the listed genres on this site?
I would say the majority of people listen to music because it makes them feel emotions they cannot as easily with other mediums of art. Finding a book you enjoy can be challenging since you have to go out of your way to find solid recommendations and going out and purchasing the book. It may take awhile for the story to develop into something you find yourself having an emotional interest in. It's the same thing with movies. I stopped watching movies regularly when I was a teenager because there were a lot of movies I watched that felt like pure Hollywood drivel. Like it was only intended to make a quick buck and it lacked any character development, good storytelling or anything I remotely valued in art.
Music is easily accessible. Music is easily digestible. It doesn't waste much of your time to skip a song you don't find appealing. Finding music you enjoy is easy with computer-generated recommendations.
Some focus more on the lyricism side which tends to be the singer-song writer and indie stuff. Some focus on the artist's actual prowess at vocals or the technicality of their instrument playing. Some focus more on the style of music and they mostly stick to the type of music that fits their definition of aesthetically-pleasing music.
I have my own criteria of what I look for music. It's important to admit I am a vocal-biased fangirl. I know, I know. Classical music is superior my dad says. Movie and video game OST's are amazing ZeosPantera (an audio enthusiast who makes speaker and headphone reviews on Youtube) says. I envy people like my dad and Zeos because they understand something I probably never will be able to. I cannot emotionally connect with listening to a symphony or even a beautiful soundtrack. Vocals aren't everything, of course not. But vocals bring out the human element and for me it's much easier connecting to a human's voice than an instrument. So the following are reasons
why I think I choose the types of music I listen to.
1) I am a huge sucker for higher-pitched male vocals. Lots of post-hardcore clean vocals fit that criteria which explains my huge favoritism towards that genre. I would consider myself a treble head and prefer music that is bass-lite.
2) I care a lot about chord progression and melody. If something sounds too generic, I can still like it but it gets old quickly and it won't be recommended. If a song sounds like it is all breakdowns and low end, I will dislike it. This is why I am extremely picky with metal-core and metal bands in particular because a lot of them aren't creative with their sound. There are often times the beginning to build up to the chorus is perfect but the chorus itself falls flat. I wouldn't recommend the song in that particular case but I can still appreciate what the song has since the chorus isn't everything.
3) I used to be able to tolerate formulaic song writing when I was younger. Formulaic in terms of song structure, lyrics and the style of vocals and instrumentation used. I realize that a lot of music I recommend on this site is still formulaic to a degree, but I'm mostly referencing mainstream pop music I cannot listen to anymore because it's oh so generic. It just screams laziness and money-grabbing to me. This is a big reason why I lost a lot of interest in mainstream J-pop and K-pop. Sorry, not sorry.
4) I love vocals that are emotive, unique, carry a special tone, etc. This does not restrict what type of music I listen to and why I can tolerate unclean (screaming) vocals.
5) I do not care about lyrics usually unless they stick out to my ears because they do not fit the song or are cringey. This is mainly the reason why I don't listen to a lot of rap since the genre as a whole is lyric focused.
6) I want to emotionally connect to the vibe of the song. That's the most important thing for me when I listen to music.
7) My rating system for music is how likely I will want to listen to it. All of the songs recommended will be 8 or higher out of 10. This means I would not mind playing the song regularly and there is a special quality to each tune which makes them memorable for me.